600M Worth of Picasso, Matisse, Modigliani Paintings Stolen!

May 20th, 2010 - 11:14 pm ICT by Angela Kaye Mason  

May 20 (THAINDIAN NEWS) Radio France International reports that five paintings by such artists as Modigliani, Picasso, Matisse and more, which added up t a total worth of over 600 million dollars, were stolen by what looks to have been a lone thief, who broke into the Paris Museum of Modern Art to steal these fabulous works of art.

In a statement from the Paris prosecutor’s office, a single intruder, wearing a mask, was caught on video making off with the huge heist. ‘He was heavily disguised with a hood and face covering,’ said an officer at the scene. The thief seems to have entered the museum by cutting the padlock which was locking the gate shut, and then breaking a window to get in. FBI and Crime Scene Investigators investigating the scene can be seen in a YouTube video, as well as pictures of the paintings. The area across from the Seine River from the Eiffel Tower has been blocked off by police.

An official said the paintings were by Pablo Picasso, Henri Matisse, George Braque, Amedeo Modigliani and Fernand Leger. Picasso’s ‘Dove with Green Peas’ (1912) and Matisse’s ‘Pastoral’ (1906) were among the masterpieces taken. The others were George Braque’s ‘Landscape with Olive Tree’ (1906), Amedeo Modogliani’s ‘Woman with a Fan’ (1919) and Fernand Leger’s ‘Still Life with a Chandelier’ (1922). According to experts in France, these paintings would be impossible to sale on the open market. Because of this, the worth may be lessened to hundreds of millions of euros.

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